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little handfu l of Abraham's chi ldren and grand–
children."
I mention this because a self-professed "scholar" did
one time make this very ridiculous statement and profes–
sed to reject this entire important truth on these argu–
ments primarily. l f the reader cares to check up on this
Hebrew
goihe
will find it means "nation"- or, in the plural,
"nations" or "peoples," without regard to size of popu–
lation. This
is
the word most often used- actually hundreds
of times in the OId Testament- for the various nations of
the world, including the largest nations. l n the prophecy of
Joel3, verse2, God says HewilJ gather"all nations."That is
speaking of a time yet future, in this twentieth century–
and the Hebrew
goiim
is used. There the word
goiim
includes such na tions as Russia, Germany, Italy, China,
India-pretty big nations.
But God promised that Abraham's literal, human ,
tlesh-and-blood descendants should become "a
great
na–
tion" (Gen. 12:2); that He would
"multiply thee ex–
ceedingly"
(Gen. 17:2); tha t " thou shalt be a father of
many nations"
(verse 4); and that "1 will make thee
exceedingfruitful,
and 1 will make
nations
of thee" (verse
6). As we proceed along with other promises and proph–
ecies, we shall see that biblical language describes these
as great and large nat ions.
And how much land? In Genesis 17:8, God promised
"all the land of Canaan," but in other scriptures He
promised much more. In Genesis 15:18: "lo the same
day the Eterna! made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have 1 given this land, from the river of
Egypt (the Nile] unto the great river, the river Eu–
phrates." The Euphrates is a considerable distance to the
eas t in the ancient land of Babylon, which is today Iraq–
considerably east of Palesti ne.
But all of this objector's arguments are refuted and
made ridiculous by the very next verse from the one he
quoted when he said that all that was promised was a
plot about 2 x 6 feet. He could have read this next verse:
"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou
shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east , and to
the north, and to the south" (Gen. 28: 14).
Here the size of the "many nations" is compared to
the number of grains of dust of the earth. Elsewhere
God compared the populations of these promised na–
tions to the grains of sand on a seashore and to the
stars- uncountable for multitude.
As we proceed, the magnitude and the reality of these
promises will become quite evident.
Not Fulfilled in Jews
Again, notice carefully- the Jews have never been more
than one nation. They are not, and never have been,
many nations. So here is an amazing prophecy, a solemn
promise from Almighty God, that could not be fulfilled
in Christ, in Christians, nor in the Jews. We must look
for a number of nations apart from either the Church or
40
the Jews. Amazing as it is, we must do it or deny God's
promise!
God put Abraham to the test, and Abraham, through
faith, obeyed-even to being willing to sacrifice his on ly
son, if need be. And after that the covenant no longer
was conditional. Now it became UNCONDITIONAL.
"By
myselfhave I sworn,
saith the Eterna!, for BECAUSE
thou
hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son: that in blessing
1
will bless thee, and in
multiplying
1
will mult iply thy seed as the stars of the
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;
and
thy seed sha/1 possess the gate of his enemies
(or, as
correctly trans lated in the Revised Standard Version,
"And your descendants shall possess the gate of their
enemies." The Fenton trans lation renders it: "And your
race shall possess the gates of its enemies"- so far the
material, national promises of race]; and in thy seed
[Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed [this
promise is spiritual, of grace]; because thou hast obeyed
my voice" (Gen. 22: 16-18).
The promise now is UNconditional. God has sworn to
make it good. God does not promise these things
IF
Abraham or his children do certain things. He promises
them lo Abraham BECAUSE he already has performed his
part of the agreement. If these promises could be broken
or annulled, then no promise in the Bible is sure !
These promises cannot be broken or annulled. Not if
it be true that "heaven and earth shall pass, but my word
shall NOT pass away." Now God must perform His part
without fail.
Notice an additional detail of the promise- the na–
tions who are Abraham's racial descendants are to pos–
sess the gates of their enemies. A gate is a narrow
passage of entrance or exit. When speaking nationa lly, a
"gate" would be such a pass as the Panama Canal, the
Suez
Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar. This promise is
repeated in Genesis 24:60 to Abraham's daughter-in–
law: " Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and
let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate
them."
Notice, Abraham's descendants would possess vital
geographic passageways of thei r enemies- "those that
ha te them." Tbis has never been fu lfilled in the Jews, nor
could it be fulfilled after Jes us Christ returns to rule the
nations and establish world peace. This promise could
only be fulfilled in the present world or else we mus t
deny the Bible as God's revealed Word. We must look
for a people forming more than one na tion- yet al! one
people, children of Abraham- either now or in history
who possess the sea gateways of the world, or we must
deny the Word of God. It is a test of the inspiration of
the Bible aod ofGod's power to rule this world!
A Nation and a Company of Nations
These tremendous promises were repromised to Isaac
and to Jacob. lshmael and Abraham's other sons were
The
PLAIN TRLITH October-November 1978